Kansas State Wildcats’ Ben Sinnott selected by Washington Commanders in NFL Draft
Ben Sinnott has come a long way since he first arrived at Kansas State as a skinny walk-on.
The Washington Commanders selected Sinnott with the No. 53 overall pick in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday, making him the first Wildcats tight end to be drafted since Shad Meier in 2001.
Sinnott figures to be a productive player at the next level after he proved himself as one of the best tight ends in the Big 12 at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds. He piled up 80 catches for 1,123 yards and 10 touchdowns during his final two seasons with the Wildcats.
He had such a strong connection with quarterback Will Howard that the ball felt magnetized to his hands during certain games.
Of course, Sinnott didn’t always look like a future NFL player when he was with the Wildcats.
This may sound hard to believe for anyone who has only been following Sinnott since he announced that he would forgo his senior year at K-State and declare for the draft as an early entrant, but there was a time not long ago when the NFL seemed like a pipe dream for him.
Sinnott grew up playing hockey, not football, in Iowa and very few college coaches recruited him coming out of high school. He actually planned to play at the FCS level until Chris Klieman stepped in late and convinced him to attend K-State as a walk-on.
That turned out to be a great decision for both sides.
Now he has a chance to spread his wings even further in the NFL after running the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds and posting a vertical jump of 40 inches at the scouting combine.
His rise is complete. It’s time to see how much he can continue improving in the NFL.
